Northeast Georgia News
Reporting from Barrow, Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Oconee and surrounding counties.
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Music To My Ears (Finally): How Athens Venues, Businesses Adapt To ‘New Normal’
Four to five nights a week, a line of people wrap around the Georgia Theatre waiting for entry, a sight that has become uncommon for the past year and a half. With masks on and vaccination cards in hand, patrons file into the theatre to enjoy a variety of…
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As Rent and Housing Costs Rise in Athens, Land Trust Opens Doors
At 145 Cannon Drive in Athens, a sky blue house sits empty, awaiting a new family. In Athens, the average home value is $249,947, but this three-bedroom, two-bath house is priced at $96,000. “You hear about the housing crisis, and it’s not a crisis for everyone, so maybe there’s…
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Athens Business Owners Find New Paths Following Shutdown
What was hoped to be a successful launch of a new indoor cycling studio in Athens turned into a delayed opening, having to adapt to new protocols, and industry disruptions. This is what the coronavirus pandemic did to Classic City Cycling and to the experience of Amanda Stefani, studio…
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Farm to Neighborhood Adds Additional Source to Alleviate Athens Food Insecurities
Rashe Malcolm wishes people could see the other side of Athens, the one where some families may not know where their next meal might be coming from. “Just because this is UGA and we have a bunch of restaurants that are nationally and internationally known, doesn’t mean we’re not…
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Breaking Chains: How One Georgia County Helps Inmates Get a Second Chance
It’s easy to make mistakes. It’s easy to falter under the weight of a wrong decision, and it’s easy to become burdened by the missed opportunities and the failures. In those moments, getting a second chance matters most, but if you’re an inmate, who has already been rebuked by…
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Athens Alliance Prepares to Open ACC-Funded Houseless Encampment
In August 2021, the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission approved the opening of a government-sanctioned houseless encampment behind the former North Athens School on Barber Street. Since then, the county government has been working with the local non-profit that will serve as encampment’s operator, Athens Alliance Coalition (AAC), to create…
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Singing the Blues: How Athens Musicians Survived the Pandemic
Listen closely — Camilla Sims, known as Convict Julie, tells an intimate story through each verse, chorus and bridge. From the honest and haunting “Dark Matter” to the punk-trap think piece “Drive Bys on Tractors,” Sims channels her innermost vulnerable feelings into every song she writes. For the 22-year-old musician,…
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Local Shops Strive to Preserve the Bookstore Experience
Soft music playing, a young boy and girl laughing and chasing each other through the colorful aisles, an older couple sitting at the bench by the door sharing a classic, rows upon rows of novels of all different sizes and genres, the smell of paper, and the promise of a…
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Without Words: How the Arts Connect Us
Alexia Benavent-Rivera left a part of herself in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico when her family, unable to survive in the declining tourist economy, sold its three-building shopping center, packed up and moved to the United States in the summer of 2006. Benavent-Rivera remembers bawling at the airport as she said goodbye…
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More Than Skin Deep: Effect of Racial Disparities, Discrimination on Black Children’s Development
As more Americans begin to understand the insidious nature of racism and discrimination faced by Black Americans, little attention has been given to the impact of racism from the very beginning of Black Americans’ lives. Research shows, however, that structural and interpersonal racism experienced during the first 18 years…